After depart from La Fortuna town, we’ll drive along a road surrounded by different crops for 1 hour and 45 minutes to Los Chiles, a culturally mixed village only 2.5mi (4km) away from the Nicaraguan border. Once there starts the climax of the adventure.

This experience includes a boat ride that lasts about 2½ h, which takes place along the Frío River, located in Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, a conservation area of 9969 hectares of wetlands considered to be one of the richest in biological diversity in Costa Rica. It shelters a great variety of fauna including resident and migratory birds, three of the four different species of monkeys we have in Costa Rica, iguanas, sloths, turtles, spectacled caimans, and many other animals. Besides, Caño Negro is also home to incredible fish like the almost prehistoric Tropical Gar and endangered animals, being a place of extreme importance for the country and unique as well.

This wildlife refuge is so important that it was declared RAMSAR site in 1991, which means that its role in protecting nature isn’t only important within the national context, but also for the whole continent since Costa Rica works as a biodiversity bridge between North and South America. You will discover, why this place is so valuable as we glide along the Frío river with two curtains of the forest on each side, giving you two stages for wildlife to look at.